In this picture taken from the side of the blade opposite that depicted
in the adjoining close-ups, the four bands of pattern-welding forming the
central face of the blade may be discerned on the left and in the center
of the picture, each having both straight and twisted areas, in addition
to the non-patterned steel of the two edges. On the right a stress crack
runs perpendicular to the long axis of the blade through all four bands
of pattern-welding, but spares the edges. A finer crack is seen in the pattern-welded
bands on the opposite face of the blade (not shown). Whether this crack
was a battle failure, deliberate mutilation associated with bending before
inhumation (with straightening in modern times) or artifactual damage when
the blade was recovered is not known. In the upper band to the right of
the crack a zone of pattern characteristic of a plane through the center
of a twisted rod may be noted (for further explanation of how patterns are
formed, see the on-line
document on pattern-welding).